I’ll never tire of this…

You know how you go to the fair and you see stand after stand of cheesy stuffed animals and you are praying that your kid doesn’t win another. Well, our house…is kind of like those stands, especially Micah’s room. Micah has close to 25 in his bed, as a matter of fact it reminds me of the book where the little boy has so many stuffed animals that he is unwilling to part with and ends up relegated to the floor because his stuffed animals need to be comfortable in his bed.

This is Micah. As I put away Micah’s endless stuffed animals and toys…Buddy, Buzz, Dalmatian fire dog, obi wan, several other fluffy friends including his new friends the angry bird clan..I place each one in their place and I cry.

Why?

Not because I’m tired of putting them away, or tired of arranging them or frustrated at the amount of them… I cry because I won’t do this forever. I cry because they are a symbol of my first born sons innocence, childlike affection, his need to feel safe by his little tokens that he has accumulated over the years.

Micah is sentimental and each of these $4 toys are precious to him, so they are precious to me. He knows where they are at all times. He rehearses the when and where he got each one …”Mommy, remember when I was 4 when you got this for me?” “Mommy remember when you bought this stuffed doggy before I came out of your tummy?” Yes. Yes I do. I too remember each and every one. I remember.

And one day I will look back and remember when he use to carry them everywhere, sleep with them, take them on trips, to the park, outside for rides on his little tricycle, I will remember because they are part of him and they are a part of this phase of his childhood that I know runs ahead faster than I am willing to run. These things, these moments, I will place in the suitcase of my heart forever.

So now as I sit typing with tears streaming down my face, I once again in the simple, every day, ordinary things of my life as a mom hold dear my precious moments that I have with my son who has captivated my heart forever as well as his furry friends who represent a piece of his nature, his childhood and what captivates him. I am reminded to cherish every moment, even putting away stuffed animals for the 400th time. It’s the ordinary things…that aren’t so ordinary. I feel so blessed.